Kelleher's Five Assists Sends Wildcats Past Brown, 7-4

Sunday, January 8

Providence, RI

4:00 PM

University of New Hampshire

10-8-2, 5-2-1HEA

Brown University

3-11-1, 2-6-0ECAC

New Hampshire

Brown

Photo by: China Wong

1/8/2017 6:19:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Senior forward Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded a career-high five assists as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated Brown University, 7-4, Sunday evening at Meehan Auditorium on the campus of Brown.

Kelleher, who now has 26 assists on the season in just 20 games, recorded four of his helpers in the second period alone. Junior forward Michael McNicholas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) notched a career-high four points on a pair of goals and a pair of assists. Junior Jason Salvaggio (Hanson, Mass.) scored twice while senior Jamie Hill (Glassboro, N.J.) as well as freshmen Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) and Brendan van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) each scored one goal. Senior defenseman Matias Cleland (Longmont, Colo.) tallied four assists in the game.

Brown's Sam Lafferty had four points on one goal and three assists while Max Willman had two goals and one assist. Charlie Corcoran had one goal and two assists for the Bears.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: January 8, 2017 (4:00 p.m.)
Score: New Hampshire 7, Brown 4
New Records: New Hampshire (10-8-2, 5-2-1 HEA) // Brown (3-11-1, 2-6-0)
Location: Meehan Auditorium (Providence, R.I.)

Goal Scorers: New Hampshire – Michael McNicholas (Cleland, Kelleher) - 17:04 - First Period (ppg) // Jason Salvaggio (unassisted) -- 17:10 - First Period // Brendan van Riemsdyk (Kelleher, McNicholas) - 00:53 - Second Period // McNicholas (Kelleher, Cleland) - 11:36 - Second Period (ppg) // Patrick Grasso (McNicholas, Kelleher) - 16:15 - Second Period (ppg) // Salvaggio (Kelleher, Cleland) - 18:43 - Second Period (ppg) // Jamie Hill (Eiserman, Cleland) - 4:09 - Third Period
Brown – Max Willman (Lafferty, Schoo) - 7:37 - Second Period // Charlie Corcoran (Willman, Lafferty) - 11:20 - Third Period // Lafferty (Corcoran, Wynne) - 17:44 - Third Period / Willman (Corcoran, Lafferty) - 19:25 - Third Period

Goaltenders: UNH – Danny Tirone (10-6-2) – 22 saves (7 | 9 | 6) - 58:32 minutes played
                                  Joe Lazzaro (0-0-0) -- 1 save (- | - | 1) - 1:28 minutes played
Brown – Gavin Nieto (2-8-0) - 6 saves (6 | - | -) - 20:00 minutes played
                                     Connor Maher - 5 saves (- | 5 | -) - 20:00 minutes played
                                      Tim Ernst - (- | - | 9) - 20:00 minutes played

Next Home Game: Thursday, Jan. 12 vs. Northeastern University // Buy Tickets Here // Promotions: First Responders Night

UNH Starters                  Brown Starters
LW: Salvaggio                  LW: Corcoran
C: McNicholas                  C: Lafferty
RW: Kelleher                      RW: Willman
LD: Cleland                      LD: Gottlieb
RD: Marks                          RD: McArdle
G: Tirone                          G: Nieto

Quick Facts:

Kelleher's five assists were the most by a Wildcat since Nick Sorkin notched five against Alabama Huntsville on Nov. 26, 2011.
UNH was 4-for-5 on power plays. The four tallies were the most since Feb. 23, 2008 against Boston College (4-for-8).
Kelleher is now the nation's leading scorer with 40 points on 14 goals and 26 assists.
McNicholas' four points were a career high.
Salvaggio matched a career high with two goals.
The last time UNH scored seven goals in a game was Dec. 30, 2015 against Maine (7-0).

UNH got on the board first at 17:04 of the first period as McNicholas notched his eighth goal of the year. The goal came just 19 seconds into a power play and was assisted Cleland and Kelleher.

Just six seconds later, the Wildcats struck again with an unassisted goal by Salvaggio. After the faceoff from the previous goal, Salvaggio stripped Brown of the puck and skated into the Bears' zone. He crammed his shot between the left post and Brown goalie Gavin Nieto and into the net.

Early in the second period at the 53 second mark, van Riemsdyk scored his fourth goal of the season and his second in as many games with a one-time shot from the slot. McNicholas started the play as he dished the puck to Kelleher at the top of the faceoff circle. Kelleher fed the puck to van Riemsdyk who buried his chance.

Brown scored its first goal of the season at the 7:37 mark of the second period by Max Willman. Brady Schoo started the play as he sent a pass to Sam Lafferty along the boards. Lafferty fired a shot that went wide of the net but bounced behind it and out to the other side where Willman shot it in.

Twenty six seconds into a power play in the second period, McNicholas scored his second goal of the night and ninth of the year at 11:36 of the stanza to make it 4-1. Cleland started the play with a pass to Kelleher inside the right faceoff circle. Kelleher played the puck across the face of the net to McNicholas who put it away.

Grasso tallied the fifth goal of the night for UNH at 16:15 of the second period for his 12^th of the season. Kelleher notched his fourth assist of the night on the play as he passed it to McNicholas along the boards. McNicholas played the puck to Grasso in the middle who redirected it into the net.

The Wildcats gained a 6-1 lead at 18:43 of the second period as Salvaggio scored his second of the night. Cleland passed the puck to Kelleher along the boards who played it into the middle to Salvaggio. He then fired a low shot into the net.

Hill made it 7-1 at 4:09 of the third period with his second goal of the year. Cleland started the play as he fired the puck up ice off the boards behind the Brown net. Junior forward Shane Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) fired a shot that was saved, but Hill came in and put the rebound away.

The Bears scored three goals in the third period to bring the score to 7-4. Corcoran scored at 11:20 of the period and was assisted by Willman and Lafferty to make it 7-2 while Lafferty scored at 17:44 to make it 7-3. He was assisted by Corcoran and Connor Wynne. With 35 seconds left in the game, Willman scored his second goal of the night with assists coming from Corcoran and Lafferty.

PENALTIES
New Hampshire: 1 penalties - 2 minutes
Brown: 5 penalties - 10 minutes

SPECIAL TEAMS
New Hampshire: 4-for-5
Brown: 0-for-1

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS
Points: Kelleher (5)
Goals: McNicholas (2), Salvaggio (2)
Assists: Kelleher (5)

BROWN LEADERS
Points: Lafferty (4)
Goals: Willman (2)
Assists: Lafferty (3)